Restaurant
Sofra Restaurant & Café
A much-loved Egyptian restaurant in a restored 1930s house in central Luxor, serving mezze, stuffed pigeon and clay-pot dishes on a shaded upstairs terrace.
The Hilton Luxor's fine-dining Asian restaurant, serving dishes from across Asia, including Indian curries and Malaysian soups, in an elegant Nile-side setting.
Good to know
Silk Road is the fine-dining Asian restaurant at Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa in New Karnak, and it is one of the few places in Luxor to offer a serious alternative to Egyptian and Mediterranean menus. The name reflects the range of the cooking, which draws on several Asian cuisines rather than a single country, with dishes such as Indian curries and Malaysian soups on the menu.
The setting is elegant and calm, with the hotel's gardens and the Nile close by, and it is a good choice for a special-occasion dinner or a change of pace after several days of grills and mezze. Ask your server about spice levels if you prefer milder or hotter dishes, and let the staff know about allergies or dietary requirements when you book.
As a hotel restaurant, Silk Road serves alcohol, so you can pair dinner with wine, beer or cocktails, something that is not possible in many independent restaurants in Luxor. Before or after dinner, the hotel's Sunset Bar & Terrace is a pleasant spot for a drink overlooking the river, with live entertainment in the evenings.
The restaurant suits couples, business travellers and hotel guests who want to eat well without leaving the resort, as well as visitors staying elsewhere who fancy Asian food. Prices are at the upper end of the Luxor scale, in line with other five-star hotel restaurants. Opening hours are not published online, so check with the hotel when reserving, particularly outside the main winter season.
The Hilton is in New Karnak, about a kilometre from Karnak Temple and around three kilometres north of Luxor Temple and the town centre, so most visitors arrive by taxi. Combine dinner with an afternoon at Karnak, or with the evening sound and light show at the temple. Reserve through the hotel by phone or email.
If you are staying at the Hilton, Silk Road is a good way to vary your evenings, alternating with Olives for Mediterranean grills and Rosetta for the breakfast buffet. Non-residents should allow time for security checks at the hotel entrance, which are standard at large hotels in Egypt, and arrive a little early for their booking.
At Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa in New Karnak, about a kilometre from Karnak Temple.
Asian cuisine from several countries, including Indian curries and Malaysian soups.
Yes, as a hotel restaurant it serves alcohol.
Booking is recommended, especially if you are not staying at the hotel.
Hours are not published online; check with the hotel when you reserve.
Prices are at the upper end for Luxor.
Most visitors take a taxi from the town centre, about three kilometres away.
Hotel
A palace-style West Bank retreat of domes, courtyards and antiques set in ten hectares of palm groves and gardens, and a member of Relais & Châteaux.
Thing to do
The 2.7-kilometre ancient processional road lined with sphinxes that links Luxor Temple with Karnak, excavated and reopened in 2021 as a walking route.
Bar
An evening sound and light show inside Karnak Temple, telling the story of Thebes and its pharaohs with lighting and narration in several languages.
Attraction
The vast temple complex of Amun-Re on Luxor's East Bank, built and rebuilt by around thirty pharaohs and famous for its forest-like Great Hypostyle Hall.